How to Give Fit Feedback to a Factory
You’ve been waiting weeks for your sample. It arrives, you try it on, and something’s off. The sleeve is weird. The waist sits too high. The whole thing feels bigger than you imagined.
So you email the factory and say: “the fit doesn’t look right, can you fix it?”
And then sample round two comes back with the same problems, or new ones, because the factory didn’t really know what you meant.
This is one of the most common reasons brands go through three, four, five sample rounds when two should have been enough. The issue usually isn’t the factory, it’s the feedback. Here’s how to do it in a way that actually moves things forward.
First: Get It on a Body
Before you write a single comment, the sample needs to be on a body. Ideally a fit model or dress form that matches your target size, or at minimum someone whose measurements you know. Laying a garment flat on a table tells you almost nothing useful about how it fits.
Take photos on the body from the front, back, and side. If something is pulling or dragging, photograph it. If a seam is sitting in the wrong place, photograph it. You’ll reference these when you write your comments, and you can send them alongside your written feedback so the factory can see exactly what you’re describing.
Be Specific About What’s Wrong and by How Much
This is the big one! Vague feedback gets vague results.
Instead of: “The sleeve feels too long.”
Try: “Sleeve length is 1.5 inches too long at size medium. Please shorten by 1.5 inches and re-grade across all sizes.”
Instead of: “The waist is too high.”
Try: “Waistband sitting approximately 1 inch above the natural waist. Please drop waist seam placement by 1 inch.”
The factory needs to know what to change and by how much. If you don’t give them a measurement, they’re guessing, and their guess might not match yours.
Reference Your Tech Pack
Your tech pack is the agreement between you and the factory about what the garment should be. When something is wrong, tie your feedback back to it.
If the chest measurement on the sample is 38 inches and the spec says 36 inches, say that. “Chest circumference measures 38 inches on sample. Tech pack spec is 36 inches. Please return to spec.” That’s a clear, traceable comment that leaves no room for misinterpretation.
If you don’t have a tech pack and you’re giving feedback based on feel alone, that’s a harder conversation and a sign that the next round of development probably needs proper documentation before it goes back to the factory.
Separate Fit Comments from Construction Comments
These are two different types of feedback and they often get mixed together in a way that confuses things.
Fit comments are about how the garment sits on the body, length, circumference, ease, where seams fall. These are measurement-based.
Construction comments are about how the garment is built, stitch type, seam finish, topstitching placement, how a collar is attached. These are specification-based.
Keeping them separate in your comments makes it easier for the factory to route feedback to the right person. The pattern maker vs. the sewing team, and reduces the chance of something getting missed.
Also Note What’s Working
This sounds obvious but gets skipped a lot. If the back length is perfect, say so. If the pocket placement is exactly right, confirm it. This tells the factory what to hold steady while they make changes, otherwise they might “fix” something that wasn’t broken.
A good fit comment sheet has both: here’s what needs to change, and here’s what’s approved as-is.
Send Everything Together
When you send feedback, send it all at once, written comments, annotated photos, and any updated spec measurements in one email or document. Ideally this would all be on a revisions page in your techpack. Drip-feeding feedback across multiple emails creates confusion about which version is current and makes it easy for things to fall through the cracks.
If you’re updating measurements in your tech pack as a result of the fit session, send the revised pages too. The factory should always be working from the most current documentation.
The Payoff of Doing This Well
Good fit feedback doesn’t just get you a better sample faster. It builds a better relationship with your factory. When a factory sees that you communicate clearly and know what you’re talking about, they take your project more seriously, and the whole process runs more smoothly as a result.
If you’re going through more sample rounds than you feel like you should be, the feedback process is usually worth looking at. At Lilith Apparel, fit review and comment sheets are part of how we support clients through development. If you want a cleaner process on your next collection, reach out and we can talk through what that looks like.
